Journals

Do You Really Need That
by: Sergio Ybarra

If I were to class the world in terms of types of human being, I could discriminately class all persons using the unit of wealth - both monetary and materials. My initial thoughts are that someone in the middle class; a person between a poor homeless person, and an extremely wealthy one, is living a better life then the others. However Lars Eighner would explain that this is generally not true, and that the better life is not in the middle ground, rather it is at either end of the spectrum; that the seemingly opposite share something in common. They "know there is plenty more where whatever we have came from."

In Lars Eighner life experience, he has witnessed, that many "people do throw away... a lot of perfectly good stuff," so much so that it might be why he feels sorry for them. During his years as a homeless "scavenger," Lars learned how to take the waste of others and use it for himself. He might find some shoes, a calculator and even food that is still editable. Although much of what Lars owns is previously used, he explains you shouldn’t take everything you can. This is in a sense the same trap that the "rat-race millions" have fallen into, and a lesson that he as a trash scavenger has learned. "Take what I can use and let the rest go." That maybe why Lars Eighner feels sorry for so many; because so many have things they don’t need, and worse for reasons "they know not."

It’s easier to notice that there is plenty of must have stuff, that we can't go without. Just count the number of shoes and cars you’ve owned, perhaps love letters written, and maybe even marriages. Lars Eighner describes that "ideas... are longer-lived than material objects." That with the passing of time comes less need for some materials.

After reading Lars Eighner’s essay On Dumpster Diving I have a new perspective on who might be living the good life, and I will definitely take some time to think about the stuff I buy, so that I won’t purchase stuff that I don’t need.

Eighner, Lars. "On Dumpster Diving" Models for Writers: Short Essays for Composition. 7th ed.
Ed. Rosa, Alfred, Paul Eschholz. Bedford/St. Martin’s: New York, 2001. 326-329